Meet the candidates for the Ward County commission

WARD COUNTY, N.D. – Ahead of Tuesday’s elections, KMOT spoke with all three candidates from the Ward County Commissioners race.

Here is what you need to know about these candidates before heading to the polls:

The first Candidate we spoke with was current Ward County commissioner John Fjeldahl. He grew up on a farm around Berthold and has served on countless community boards in Berthold and around Ward County. Fjeldahl has been a commissioner for 12 years now. He says that he really wants the best for the residents of Ward County. From his experience, he says he knows how to handle the unexpected problems that come up.

“Expanding the facilities at the jail and the administration building have been a positive thing. I am happy. I was a supporter of doing that and funding it with sales tax instead of putting it on the property tax,” said Fjeldahl.

The second county commissioner candidate is John Pietsch. Pietsch says he has worked many different jobs from being a truck driver, a mechanic, owning a business and a farmer for 40 years. If elected his first plan of action is to sit down with the their commissioners and make things work as a county. Pietsch want to help with flood protection, believes in protection of property rights and want a budget that controls spending.

“A comprehensive plan is very important because it provides the basis and foundation for the way that our zoning and ordinances are written well into the future. I would like to be a part of providing some common sense and some logic to the plan,” said Pietsch.

The final candidate for Ward Country Commission is Dave Pankow. Pankow was born and raised in Minot. He was a part Minot's city council for three years. Pankow was on Minot's planning commission from 2009-2014. He created and chaired the steering committee that rewrote the comprehensive use plan and city zoning ordinance. He says through past experiences he is able to bring people together and build a consensus with that group.

“One of the main things that I would like to see done is budget forecasting for budgets fluctuation control. I think that it is really important to be looking out ahead to see where funding is coming from and expected expenditures so that we can balance things out so we don't have blips throughout the years,” said Pankow.